Paying for wedding

[DisneyLover1234]

Our situation is sort of strange. Right now we have NO idea how many of the 310 people we are inviting will come and that makes a large different in price. We both just graduated from school and I am currently still looking for a job and it has taken me alot longer than we had planned on. DF has a great job, gets a huge raise in 6 months and an even bigger one after the wedding. Right now all the deposits we have saved for and are paying those with cash. We don't have much of a budget because our guest list can fluctuate so much and can be a difference of thousands of dollars. We are saving DF's salary as much as possible and mine once I get that dream job. My family will also contribute a large amount, but even getting my dad to speak about the wedding has been difficult and I don't want to ask for it. We were worried that the worst case scenario is that everyone shows and my family isn't contributing and we just can't save that amount of money in that amount of time. There are also other things that we will need to purchase in the next year, like a house and car, so we went a spoke with a financial adviser. We were 100% against taking out a loan, but after speaking with him, it would actually be the best advantage for us at this point. And this is only if we went up in the worst case situation. We just didn't want to put ourselves in a situation where we didn't have enough cash in case something large happening like an accident or car breaks, something big. He also told us, it would be better for us to put the money we are saving towards a house instead of continuing to pay rent. We both have excellent credit and would be able to get a loan for a very low interest rate and would give us the flexibility to pay it of over the next few months instead of right away. It is all very complicated and I don't want to write it all on here, but I hope you understand. This is not the ideal situation (and are only doing this if we absolutely have to), but we also don't want to wait another year to get married and be paying for two separate apartments, plus we really really want to get married haha.

 

[Ember]

Well, I'm willing to admit I financed part of my wedding. We saved for several years, but were both students up until the time we got married. We both knew that we would be returning to jobs and that the debt would be paid off quickly. I finished paying it off two months ago. (8 months after the wedding) I was very budget conscious and kept the wedding to the $10k minimum, but there was also the cost of the trips for the bridal party, the photographer, and the honeymoon. I don't regret my choice.

 

[DisneyLover1234]

Well, I'm willing to admit I financed part of my wedding. We saved for several years, but were both students up until the time we got married. We both knew that we would be returning to jobs and that the debt would be paid off quickly. I finished paying it off two months ago. (8 months after the wedding) I was very budget conscious and kept the wedding to the $10k minimum, but there was also the cost of the trips for the bridal party, the photographer, and the honeymoon. I don't regret my choice.

Yep, that is very similar to our situation

 

[Lynn5700]

Were paying for our wedding with saving's.Were putting it on our Disney Visa so we can get some points!!! Then we will pay it right off.

 

[Starr W.]

Michellem I noticed you are DVC. We are DVC as well. We were wondering if you could utilize your timeshare for a wedding. I read something about having to stay at Disney resort but wasn't sure if the timeshare counted? I'd hate to have to pay for a resort stay when i want to use my timeshare.

According to Mousesavers, staying on DVC points count toward your room min for Wishes weddings and a 4 night stay at a DVC would meet the requirement for an Escape wedding. I would double check with the DFTW folks, but I think Desnik who is also a DVC owner and doing a Wishes VR is using her points for rooms and it is counting toward her minimum.

 

[imnotaprincess]

According to Mousesavers, staying on DVC points count toward your room min for Wishes weddings and a 4 night stay at a DVC would meet the requirement for an Escape wedding. I would double check with the DFTW folks, but I think Desnik who is also a DVC owner and doing a Wishes VR is using her points for rooms and it is counting toward her minimum.

We cleaned out two years of points using our DVC. We provided 3 nights lodging for our bridal party - 8 rooms times 3 nights. We also put up mothers, sisters and brothers. A total of 43 room nights, not including the Grand Villa we booked for ourselves. So, short answer after my long one - it does count towards your room minimum.

YEA DVC! We did the math- we practically paid for our initial buy in with the wedding - the rooms had we paid cash would amount to over $16,000!

 

[Starr W.]

We cleaned out two years of points using our DVC. We provided 3 nights lodging for our bridal party - 8 rooms times 3 nights. We also put up mothers, sisters and brothers. A total of 43 room nights, not including the Grand Villa we booked for ourselves. So, short answer after my long one - it does count towards your room minimum.

YEA DVC! We did the math- we practically paid for our initial buy in with the wedding - the rooms had we paid cash would amount to over $16,000!

I think that's the way we will go for our VR, one it will keep everyone a good chunk of the family from playing ressie switching and messing up the bus schedule(they do this after you do planning and come up with the schedule). Though my sister will want to stay at GF or someplace with a conceirge floor. A studio wouldn't do for her, the little 40 yr old .

We love our DVC too!

 

[figmentfan814]

One tip I can offer - even if you don't need to charge your wedding to a credit card b/c you've saved the money, paying for it with a Disney Rewards Visa or a card that earns points/miles/rebates and then paying the card off immediately is a great way to rack up the rewards!

We did this too, so we had the rewards to use while we were down there.

 

[BurghFan111]

Thanks for the DVC answers.

 

[Melanie98]

I was married ten years ago (unfortunately it didn't work out). We had a fairly large wedding and spent about $12k (on a tight budget). We saved for about a year to pay for it. We also moved in together right after we got engaged to minimalize living expenses.

Now I am getting married again, but I am finding it much harder to save (since we have kids and mortgages, etc.). We are having a small wedding (less than 50 people) and we have been able to pay for everything a little at a time. However, we are taking the kids on our honeymoon (Disney and a cruise), and the cost of that seems to be getting higher and higher. I already put our airfare on a credit card, but now I am thinking that I will have to pay for the balance on our Disney trip with it too. I am really looking forward to the tax stimulus we are getting. That will almost cover the Disney trip. My biggest concern is spending money during the honeymoon. I'm hoping we will have some cash by then.

Weddings can be very expensive, but there are also ways to do it on a small budget too. It is all a matter of your priorities. If you don't mind being in debt, then that is really your choice. However, I personally think that starting out a marriage in debt can really put a strain on the relationship. Also, newlyweds usually want to have cash and credit available to consider purchasing a house (especially in the current buyer's market). Although we already own a home and generally have our finances under control I am scared to death about the debt we may incur over the next few months of wedding planning. I just keep reassessing our plans and finding different ways to do things to cut costs.

Also, remember that the wedding day will fly by and you really won't remember much of it. Instead of doing things that cost lots of money do small things that are meaningful. Those are the things you will really remember. Photos are good too!

 

[lawyergirl]

We're doing a combination of savings and loans. The credit crunch hasn't hit that hard in Canada as of yet, so I've been approved for a pretty hefty line of credit. I would never put wedding expenses onto a credit card, though, unless I knew I could pay them off in their entirety at the end of the month - the interest rates are WAY WAY WAY too high.

If you're looking into borrowing, I would seriously suggest some kind of bank loan or line of credit with a rate under 10% so that you can actually have a hope in Heck of paying down the capital without having to resort to the sale of your firstborn!!

 

[craigs bride]

we arent getting married for another 17 mths so we are saving like mad at the moment
we cant get credit so that isnt a option for us ....but im putting added extras on to our honeymoon like tickets to MK for 5 of us (our children and us ) tickets to SW,IOA,UV and AQ
So DF is moaning about the cost but im sure it will be worth it all in the end

 

[Missy Mouse]

Anyone taking out a loan or paying with credit card? Just curious to see how many people actually pay for their wedding using just their savings alone.

We will hopefully pay cash for everything. We both have enough loans and c/c debt without adding anything more!

 

[DisneyDmbNut]

If you pay for it with your Disney Visa..don't you get 6 mths interest free??

We got married at the courthouse last summer and are doing a "wedding/VR" on the Wonder this summer with about 15 friends..$1500 and it is added to my cruise cost (much of which, I paid off in the last year) and the rest we are putting on the DV for the points and the interest free!

 

[Mama of Indybride]

I'm not sure on the interest free, something to ask DFTW!!

I know if you book a vacation package through Disney Travel and pay with a DV you get 6 months interest free, but what I have noticed is if you book a package, at Disneyland, they couldn't offer the concierge service, and part of our vacation experience always includes the concierge lounge at the Grand.

So I never do the package, and it makes me sad every time.

Maybe with my princess's wedding, they will be accomodating?? I hope so!

 

[Christina3891]

Our wedding budget is $30,000 most of which is coming from savings. We will be putting somewhere around $5,000 on credit cards. We have been using our Chase Disney credit card to get points and paying it off each month.

 

[WithDisneySpirit]

We will put the tab on our Disney Visa and then pay it off with savings we have set aside to pay in full!! I know I will hate writing that check though It is better than debt though!

We are using over two years of DVC points to put up 24 people for six nights at Old Key West for our vow renewal. Two more friends are coming for four night too!